Research into predation on garden birds by cats
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Cat Collar Trial

The RSPB are investigating methods of reducing predation by domestic cats on garden birds . They have recruited 150 cat owning volunteers to participate in a trial begun in April 2002. This involved fitting the cats with either a quick release collar alone or a collar with a bell or a collar with an electronic beeper attached. Owners have been asked to record the prey items that the cat then catches. Prior to the experiment all the devices and collars employed were vetted by the RSPCA and the Feline Advisory Bureau.
Cat owners whose cat(s) did not currently wear a collar, but which regularly hunted, were asked to volunteer for the project and fill in a questionnaire

 

 




Preliminary results from the project were presented to Willana Lifesciences representatives at a seminar in Manchester on 19 August 2002. These indicated that sonic collars do reduce overall predation rates and that the sonic collar is more effective than the bell. This confirms the results of 4 trials carried out by the British Trust for Ornithology in 1999, and published on this Website, where the predation rates on birds were cut by two thirds. The complete experimental details of the RSPB trial will become available at the end of September 2002.

Poor Smokey - Foiled again